Keysight And Ericsson Are Still Testing Before Standardization

6G Development Keysight And Ericsson Are Still Testing Before Standardization

2026-03-03 From Hendrik Härter | Translated by AI 3 min Reading Time

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Even before there are final standards, Keysight and Ericsson are testing the interoperability of pre-6G with real network infrastructure and devices. This helps with the early validation of new 6G concepts.

Keysight and Ericsson enable validation of pre-6G interoperability with real network infrastructure and devices.(Image: Keysight) — Keysight and Ericsson enable validation of pre-6G interoperability with real network infrastructure and devices.
(Image: Keysight)

The collaboration between measurement technology specialist Keysight Technologies and network equipment supplier Ericsson demonstrates a new approach to 6G development: instead of waiting for final standards, both companies are already validating the interoperability between pre-6G base stations and prototype end devices under real-life conditions.

Pre-6G Means Development Before Standardization

The 6G standardization by 3GPP is still in the early phase. While Releases 19 and 20 will define basic requirements and architecture studies by 2026, the first normative 6G specifications are only planned for Release 21, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2028. The final ITU approval for IMT-2030 is not expected before 2030.

Keysight and Ericsson are using this time for pre-6G developments that are already testing central 6G concepts in real hardware. These include centimeter-wave spectrum for higher frequency ranges, channel bandwidths of up to 400 MHz and enhanced massive MIMO systems with improved protocol efficiency. These approaches make it possible to validate design decisions and identify interpretation differences in design standards at an early stage.

WaveJudge As An Independent Analysis Platform

At the heart of the cooperation is Keysight's WaveJudge Wireless Analyzer (WJ5000A/WJ5900A), an independent third-party solution that can decode and analyze both gNB and UE signals. The platform covers frequency ranges from 380 MHz to 6 GHz, expandable to 11.4 GHz or millimeter wave ranges, and supports bandwidths of up to 800 MHz per RF port.

The multi-vendor interoperability analysis is one of the most important features, as WaveJudge independently decodes signals from different vendors and highlights discrepancies between expected and actual behavior. This significantly speeds up problem identification between different vendors, as developers are not dependent on proprietary tools from the respective partner.

The Real-Time Over-the-Air-Monitoring makes it possible to record and analyze protocol and physical layer interactions in real time during operation. Developers can use it to monitor live connections and immediately localize performance issues without interrupting the test setup.

For the planned broadband 6G channels, the platform offers support for 400 MHz channel bandwidths with up to eight synchronized RF ports. This is crucial for the validation of carrier aggregation and the analysis of interference patterns in ultra-wideband scenarios.

The detailed multi-layer KPI analysis provides key figures such as RNTI, IMSI, transmission power and EVM per message across all protocol layers. This gives developers granular insights into connection quality and allows them to quantify the impact of individual 6G features.

The Massive MIMO validation is particularly important, as the platform supports up to eight synchronized receive paths for the analysis of extended MIMO configurations. This allows beamforming algorithms to be characterized and spatial signal separation in dense antenna fields to be validated.

Integrate New Protocol Versions Quickly

As 6G standards are still evolving, WaveJudge provides the necessary draft standard flexibility to quickly integrate new protocol versions. Developers can use it to test different implementation variants without having to wait for final standard documents.

In 6G development, the complexity of interoperability testing in a multi-vendor environment with evolving standards is the key issue. David Bjore from Ericsson emphasizes the efficiency gains: "By working with Keysight, we were able to solve problems more efficiently and gain deeper insights into the performance of new 6G concepts."

For the industry, this approach means an acceleration of 6G development. Instead of sequentially finalizing standards first and then developing hardware, both processes can run in parallel. Lucas Hansen from Keysight explains: "By working closely with Ericsson, we enable the early exploration of new ideas in parallel with the standard development process." (heh)

The 6G mobile communication generation places high demands on test hardware. The RF measurement technology provider Anritsu is taking a new approach to test environments. (Image:freely licensed)

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